The Horse and His Boy: Chapter 13 “The Fight at Anvard”
C.S. Lewis Read-Along, Vol. 5, Issue 14
In the previous two chapters, Shasta has experienced salvation and the sacraments. Now, he moves into sanctification. His perspective on life has shifted.
“At last they were going in single file along the edge of the precipice and Shasta shuddered to think that he had done the same last night without knowing it. ‘But of course,’ he thought, ‘I was quite safe. That is why the Lion kept on my left. He was between me and the edge all the time.’”
Chapter 13 “The Fight at Anvard”
As part of the marching Narnian army, Shasta and Corin swap stories of their adventures. Even in this, you can see the characteristics of the two boys. Shasta humbly shares his lack of real horseback riding experience. Corin gladly instructs him and shares about their escape from Tashbaan.
Corin also explains why Lucy is out in the battle, but Susan stayed at Cair Paravel. “She’s not like Lucy, you know, who’s as good as a man, or at any rate as good as a boy. Queen Susan is more like an ordinary grown-up lady. She doesn’t ride to wars, though she is an excellent archer.”
There’s so much in this aside as we look back in the Narnian stories and think about where these characters are headed.
In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Father Christmas gave Susan a bow and arrows and Lucy a dagger but said he did not mean for either of them to fight in the battle. Lucy interjects that she thinks she could be brave enough. “That’s not the point,” he said. “But battles are ugly when women fight.”
Now, here we are 14 years later, and Queen Lucy is fighting in the battle, but Queen Susan stays at home. One could assume this was a mistake by Lucy compared to Susan, but nowhere in the text is it even hinted at that Lucy’s choice to participate was wrong.
Even more to the point, we have Corin calling Susan an “ordinary grown-up lady.” In The Last Battle, Susan is not in Narnia with her family because she has become preoccupied with being grown-up.
I don’t think we should take this to mean that Lewis has entirely changed his views on gender differences since writing The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. During this time, he also wrote “Priestesses in the Church,” in which he opposes female priests in the Anglican church. He grounds his opposition on the nature of God and our relationship to Him. That hasn’t changed.
But Lewis had not been acquainted with many positive women through his early adult life. Keep in mind that while his mother was brilliant, she died when he was young. It was years later before he interacted with other strong and intelligent women.
By the time he is this deep into Narnia, however, he’s corresponded with Dorothy Sayers and Ruth Pitter. Elisabeth Anscombe has challenged his work in Miracles at the Oxford Socratic Club. In 1950, he received his first letter from Joy Davidman Gresham, eventually dedicating The Horse and His Boy to her sons. These interactions may not have changed his perspective, but they likely clarified it.
Before they reach this battle, however, Shasta exercises his new perspective on life. The Narnian army retraces the route he took coming down from Archenland into Narnia. The path grows narrower, and the drop along the right becomes steeper.
“‘But of course,’ he thought, ‘I was quite safe. That is why the Lion kept on my left. He was between me and the edge all the time.’”
